


Collapsing Nebula

by machmeteor



Category: Kamen Rider Fourze
Genre: M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 13:35:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5050507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/machmeteor/pseuds/machmeteor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why Jirou presses the switch and the story behind Ryusei becoming Kamen Ride Meteor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Collapsing Nebula

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itteiiyo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itteiiyo/gifts).



A fist flew straight to his face but the twitch in his opponent’s hand had given Ryusei more than ample time to easily dodge and counter the attack. Their quick movements silently sent droplets of sweat into the air. He let out a characteristic yell as he suddenly swung his own fist towards the boy in front of him, knowing full well that he would soon be halting his fist.

“Enough!” A low voice bellowed and Ryusei’s fist stopped abruptly, centimeters away from the face of the black haired boy. Their eyes were locked tightly between heavy breathing, and Ryusei could almost see a sparkle of tears in his best friend’s brown eyes, nearly softening his own fierce expression. He was shocked, it couldn’t possibly be fear. Was it anger? Sadness?

“Ryusei, win!”

Ryusei’s arms fell to his sides. They bowed.

“That’s our champ!” Other members of the dojo swarmed him and began imitating his martial arts yells while complimenting his spar results. He laughed and playfully told them to stop, in the back of his mind, still wondering if he had really seen a tear earlier or not. It was the first time since they had starting coming to the dojo together that Ryusei had seen a tear come from his friend.

“Hey Jirou!” Ryusei called through the crowd, looking back to where Jirou was wiping his face with a towel, and gave him a ‘save me’ face. Jirou’s towel slowed down as his name was called and he looked up, meeting eyes with Ryusei. He used the towel to push back his black hair and smiled while shrugging his shoulders before turning around and leaving the room.

 

“Sorry about that back there,” Ryusei’s hand gently rested on Jirou’s shoulders. The air was already cold and the sun was setting. “You know how they are,” he chuckled a little while looking back to the entrance of the now quiet dojo. 

Jirou looked up and smirked, “I can’t be selfish and always keep you to myself.”

“You had some good shots there,” Ryusei sat down on the concrete stairs next to Jirou, putting down his school bag. The wind blew through their still damp hair and Ryusei could smell a hint of Jirou’s shampoo. He wondered if he should comment on the tears he thought he saw at the end of their match but he decided against it. 

“Obviously not as good as you,” Jirou stretched and leaned back.

“It was an unfair match, they should know better than to match us together,” Ryusei looked at Jirou and an eyebrow raised in a teasing manner, “We know each other too well.”

Jirou laughed in response, “You are the one who got me to try Seishin Dairin Fist in the first place.” The two boys smiled simultaneously. “Ryusei…” Jirou’s voice trailed and he shifted his gaze to the sun setting in front of them, “Do you think I’ll make it in the program?”

“Of course you will!” Ryusei was practically bewildered, “Why would you even ask that? We’re going together, right? You and me!” He studied Jirou’s face for a moment, the sun glowing against Jirou’s fair skin created an even starker contrast with his jet black hair and created shadows, defining his sharp bone structure even more than usual. “This abroad program is what we’ve both been dreaming about since we were kids, we’re both going to get it, it’s our fate. We’re going to kick ass out there.” Ryusei had never once doubted that either of them would get in. The two had both been working tirelessly for the past year and the qualifications for the program was in a week. Only the top 5 students from their dojo would get in and would finish the remaining 2 years of high school overseas with intensive martial arts training. He also knew how much Jirou committed to training even outside of regular practice.

“Right, right.” Jirou stood up and held out his hand with a smile, “Hey, Ryusei…”

“What is it?” Ryusei took his hand and stood. It was weird to hear Jirou have such sincerity in his voice, it made his normally rather high voice a bit deeper almost like it was dipped in honey. The abnormality in Jirou’s voice calling his name made Ryusei feel his face getting red and he could feel his face scrunching, trying to make the weird feeling go away. What was his face getting flushed for?

“I..” Jirou gripped Ryusei’s hand firmly for a second and then let go, pulling his own hand to cover his mouth as a laugh escaped his lips, “Nevermind.” His voice was teasing. 

“You’re so weird sometimes!” He look Jirou in a headlock, feeling the coolness return to his face, and the two laughed as they walked down the river bank. 

 

“Hey Ryusei…” Jirou’s soft voice was almost drowned out by bustling fast food sounds. The restaurant was typically busy after school but it had been a while since they took a break from the dojo on a weekday. It wasn’t that they wanted to take a break but their superiors didn’t want them to overwork themselves before the qualifications and so they were forced to take a mandatory day off.

Ryusei looked over, a french fry half way in his mouth and another waiting in his hand, “What’s up?” Jirou seemed to be worried about something but Ryusei had no idea what he might be worried about. Of the two, Jirou was the harder working one of the two so it wasn’t like him to have worries. Jirou was an extremely capable person that was able to get anything done and Ryusei often relied on that personality trait of his.

Their eyes held contact for a few seconds before Jirou smiled, grabbed Ryusei’s hand, brought it to his mouth, and ate the french fry from it.

“Hey! I was going to eat that!” Ryusei pouted, almost stuttering from the unexpected physical contact, and the two jokingly fought, forgetting about the tense moment they had just had seconds before.

“I’m glad that I have a friend like you,” Jirou looked at Ryusei. “If I ever feel even slightly stressed, I know you’ll provide comic relief.”

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?” Ryusei gave him a fake stink eye before smiling again, “Well, as long as it makes you happy.”

“It does,” Jirou took a sip from his cola, making obnoxious sounds as it neared empty.

“What are you going to do if they don’t have cola at the abroad program?” Ryusei pushed Jirou his own cup of cola through the pile of hamburger wrappers and french fry containers. He was well aware of his friend’s cola drinking habits from childhood and was sure to always order cola as well. It was to the point where Ryusei swore that he could smell the sweet scent of cola off of Jirou sometimes.

“What kind of place in the world doesn’t have cola?” He happily took Ryusei’s cup and sipped from the straw. The two hadn’t been able to have a relaxing evening like this in a while, though they were planning on secretly training after dinner anyway. Jirou insisted on practicing and Ryusei was more than happy to have any excuse to be able to spend more time together. After all, what he enjoyed the most about Seishin Dairin Fist was being able to do it with Jirou.

Ryusei looked at Jirou’s happy face, “Man, I’m excited to make more memories like this abroad,” He pointed to Jirou who, in response, tilted his head with the straw still in his mouth, “with my best friend!”

“You’re so cheesy,” Jirou responded with a smile, his lips parting from the straw, “but I’m looking forward to it too.”

 

Ryusei stood on the platform with 4 other members of the dojo. The director was giving them praise but Ryusei felt the least bit happy. The more the director talked about the 2 years they would be gone, the more Ryusei didn’t want to go. What was the point of going to the program that they had planned to go together, alone? He looked up at Jirou in the audience who was smiling and clapping, but Ryusei couldn’t smile back. Jirou should have been up there with him. They should have been going together. Why was Jirou happy? They would be separated for 2 years, it was the distance that he could see already being created between them that scared him. He felt so far away from Jirou just standing on the stage. He didn’t understand what went wrong, they had been training together all this time and they had been progressing together, so why? Why was he alone on this stage?

“You’re going to have to just kick ass there, enough for the both of us,” Jirou smiled lightly as the two stood on the stairs. The setting sun made his face glow, it was a glow that Ryusei never got tired of seeing but, for the first time, it had a tinge of sadness to it. It was always quiet there, but the air felt stiller than usual. “It’s only going to be 2 years, right? By the time you come back, I’ll be sure to get strong enough to beat you!” He lightly punched Ryusei’s arm. “And Ryusei, I-”

“Are you okay with this?” Ryusei couldn’t stop the tears welling up in his eyes, he grabbed Jirou by the shoulders and shook him. “Are you really okay with this?”

Jirou bit his lip, “What else can I do?” His voice was almost trembling and he could only let out a whisper.

“I-I won’t go… I can’t go without you…” Ryusei met eyes with Jirou and embraced him, sobbing into his shoulder, “We’re best friends, we’re supposed to do everything together…”

Jirou breathed in, shook his head, and pushed Ryusei away, his eyes red with tears as well, “You’ve always wanted this. You need to go. Alone.” Jirou turned around and began to ran, leaving Ryusei alone and confused.

“Jirou?” Ryusei looked at the once familiar person who was now fading away in front of him; he couldn’t understand. Why were all these things happening? Why was Jirou saying these things? Why did Jirou push him away? Why was Jirou leaving? It was already hard enough to understand that Jirou didn’t get into the program so why were there more incomprehensible things happening? He held his head with on hand and he walked back to the entrance of the dojo, trying to understand what was really going on. He would tell the director that he didn’t want to go on the program. How would he be able to withstand 2 years away from Jirou? 

“Ryusei!” 

“Jirou?” 

“I knew you’d be here.” 

Ryusei looked guiltily at his feet and then back up at Jirou. He wasn’t prepared to see Jirou again so soon. “Are you here to stop me? I’m going to tell the director I’m not going on the program, regardless of what you say.”

Jirou smiled, a response that Ryusei did not see coming, “It’s okay, I’m going to go with you.”

Ryusei was happy to hear those words but confused, “H-how?”

“Look, Ryusei,” Jirou beamed and put out his palm to reveal a black switch adorned with white designs and a bright red button. 

“Jirou, what is that?”

“It’ll make me stronger, strong enough to make it into the top 5. I’ll just ask the director for a rematch and with this switch, I’ll have the power to get into the program!”

“The power to the get into the program? Woah, wait, Jirou, what is this? Is it some kind of drug?”

“This monster looking guy gave it to me and told me that with this, I would gain a lot of power!”

“Let’s think about this again, Jirou… A monster looking guy? It sounds fishy-”

“I-I’m not naturally strong like you, Ryusei!” Jirou grabbed the switch firmly and Ryusei took a step back, scared. It was the first time he heard Jirou raising his voice in this way.

“Jirou, what are you talking about?”

“I work just as hard as you and as everyone else but I can never be as strong as you… I even train on my free time at home and I just can’t keep up with you!”

“What are you talking about? Jirou, you’re strong!”

“I don’t know why you think I’m so strong when I’m not. Everyone else knows how weak I really am. Everyone but you, Ryusei! But with this switch, I can finally be like you. I can finally be as strong as you and we can go to the program… together!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not going and you’re not using that switch!”

“You have to go!”

“No! I’m not going to go like this! Jirou, it’s okay. We’ll work this through. We’ll work hard and we’ll try again next year. I don’t have to go this year.” He could feel the tears in his eyes again. 

“Why do you keep sacrificing yourself for me? I’m going to to be stronger, I want to do something on my own too!”

“Idiot!” Ryusei yelled louder than he wanted to, the words continued to tumble out of his mouth, “You don’t even understand how I feel…” All he wanted was to be with Jirou. It wasn’t about the program anymore. He looked away, “I don’t care what you do!” His heart felt heavy with every syllable. But he did care. He looked up again. Maybe he cared too much. All he wanted was to be together with Jirou, happily stealing french fries from each other on their days off, putting each other in headlocks, watching sunsets on the concrete stairs together.

“I want power, Ryusei…”

“I’m your friend and you ask for something like this from me…” What was he supposed to do? What were the right words to say? How could Jirou ask him to go alone? How could Jirou think that Ryusei would be okay with this crazy switch that they knew nothing about?

“Friend..? I don’t care about friends…” Each word felt like a dagger, there were tears in Jirou’s eyes that had an odd softness to them that seemed to be filled with regret. “All I need is this switch! I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore! I’m going to decide my own fate, I want a new me!”

“STOP! JIROU!!”

The next moments seemed slow but fast at the same time as Ryusei watched Jirou press the switch. He reached out but his body wouldn’t move the way he told it to, he yelled Jirou’s name but he knew it wouldn’t be answered. The sudden blast emitting from the switch forced Ryusei away, the bright oranges and reds blinding him, he was no longer able to see Jirou, only the purple crackle of electricity that engulfed Jirou’s slender body. He thought about Jirou’s words, ‘Friend..? I don’t care about friends…’ The words echoed through his head and for some reason, Ryusei suddenly remembered moments during the week where he had brushed off the times where Jirou had seemed unusually concerned. It was in that then that Ryusei realized, Jirou meant more to him than a best friend, he loved Jirou. Perhaps it was his love for Jirou that blinded him from noticing that this perfect person could possibly have struggles or problems. Jirou was having trouble with training but Ryusei never gave him the time of day to feel worried or to talk out the stress. On top of that, Jirou seemed to want to say something to Ryusei all week but Ryusei didn’t know what. ‘Friend..?’ Why was that word resonating in his head again? He couldn’t tell if his eyes stung from tears or from the dust as he fell to the floor, scraping his palms but trying to keep his head up to look for Jirou. It was his fault, if only he had heard out Jirou sooner, maybe it wouldn’t have come to this. He finally knew what Jirou wanted to say and he wanted to hear it now more than ever. He could hear Jirou’s final cries of agony and the silhouette of his suffering friend became visible within the cloud of dust that was slowly settling. All he wanted was to tell Jirou that he loved him too. Despite his own injuries, Ryusei forced himself up and ran to Jirou, the worry and pain in his heart numbed any other pain his body was feeling. Jirou’s usually nicely styled black hair was tinged at the ends, his sharp facial features covered in black dust, ash clung to his long lashes on his closed eyes, his usual pink lips seemed pale, and the black uniform that the two so proudly wore was tattered at the sleeves, the white accents dirtied with ash. Ryusei looked at the black switch that lay in Jirou’s limp hand, completely in tact. He pulled Jirou’s upper body unto his lap and checked for a pulse, it was barely there. Desperately, Ryusei picked up the phone in his pocket and began dialing for help, all the while looking at Jirou’s face then at the switch, then at Jirou again. He looked down at the lifeless body in his arms and wished that they had traded places, inside, he felt lifeless too. He slowly wiped the black from Jirou’s face and gently brushed away the ash on his eyelashes, even dirtied, Ryusei thought Jirou was beautiful. Warm tears began rolling down his cheek and he pressed his face against Jirou’s chest, wondering if he really possessed any ounce of the strength that Jirou had admired.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my first ever fanfiction! Sorry that it was kind of sad T__T Hoping to write more Ryusei/Jirou soon~
> 
> Additional notes:  
> "Seishin Dairin Fist" is a fictional martial arts style that Ryusei and Jirou apparently practiced in the series.


End file.
